The Riders of Doru Deloi
by SilverOwlDragon
Summary: Fifteen years after the war, the Riders are flourishing in their new home. One of the eggs from last year did not hatch, so this year there are three new Riders, two humans and a dwarf. Told mostly from the point of view of Vianna, but the others will come in every once in a while. OC pairing, NasuadaxMurtagh. Mainly an interim project while I work on others.
1. Chapter 1

**A New Year of Riders **

**Chapter One: The Eggs**

**I do not own Alegaësia, Dragon Riders, or the Inheritance Cycle. They are the property of Christopher Paolini. Any characters you don't recognize are mine.**

Kata screamed again, feeling her body straining to give birth. Perspiration made her dark hair stick to her face and her clothing stick to her body. She panted between screams, trying to catch her breath. The healers gathered around her, helping her through the birth.

Two hours later, Kata lay alone in the bed as healers washed her son in another room.

"You did bring this upon yourself," said her father. "If a daughter of mine can get herself pregnant by an unknown stable boy, she can certainly handle the consequences."

Kata groaned. Wasn't it enough to have been left by her lover and have borne his illegitimate child? Why did she have to be punished as well? Her body had certainly punished her. Now her father wanted to as well. And what could he do? Sell her? The slave trade had been outlawed fifteen years before. Imprison her? Most likely. Well, let him try. Her situation could not get much worse than it already was.

The next day, the Riders' ambassadors arrived in Gil'ead with three dragon eggs. It was unlikely that an egg would hatch for Kata, even if they let a young woman of nineteen try, but it was a chance to escape, and she was going to take it.

* * *

Vianna tried to make herself look small as she walked through Therinsford, hoping that people would ignore her. If she wanted to be a royal mage she would be one. And Queen Nasuada's mage finders hadn't come for her yet, though she knew it was only a matter of time before they did. When that time came, she would have to swear allegiance to the queen in the Ancient Language and use her power for the good of the village. Already, people asked her for help on every matter they could think of. Unfortunately, she was a powerful magician with very little training.

Vianna was sixteen, the age at which she would normally have been looking for a husband. Her parents had been members of the Varden before Galbatorix was killed and they moved back to Therinsford to live normal lives. Vianna had an elf name because of this. She barely remembered the days before they had moved here, and her fourteen-year-old brother Jordan did not remember anything at all.

Jordan was young and muscular, with a cheerful personality and a strong arm. Last year he competed in the annual games with the other races. Vianna and their father had travelled with him. If she had not been a magician, it would have been considered too dangerous for her to go with them, but she was, and so she had gotten one chance to see the world.

The games were held in the Spine that year, so it was not a long journey. As Jordan wrestled with Urgals, she talked to other magic users and watched the few elves present as they walked elegantly through the trees. If she did join the queen's group, at least she might be able to see elves again.

It wasn't the idea of helping people with her magic that made her resistant; it was the loss of free will. Living as a mage in a peaceful village during a peaceful era, she had more freedom than most girls could hope for–more than most even wanted.

Today the ambassadors brought the dragon eggs to Therinsford. She wondered what the point was in walking in front of them again. None had hatched for her last year. In fact, from what she had heard, one of the eggs had not hatched for anyone last year. This year there were three: last year's and two new ones.

Despite not seeing the point, she, along with her brother and every other young, unattached person in the village, lined up in the town square to touch the eggs. There were only two, and she did not recognize either one. So the unhatched egg had hatched after all.

Standing with the egg-bearers but slightly behind them was a young woman a bit older than Vianna. She had long golden hair and curves that drew the eyes of the young men in line. Vianna sighed inwardly. That girl was probably the new Rider. Even if an egg did hatch for her, no one was likely to pay her attention beside that girl. She was not unattractive, but she was thin and had thinner dark hair, and she could use magic, which meant that the young men gave her respect rather than admiration. This girl could break most men's hearts, and she probably did it unknowingly too.

Vianna sighed again and walked forward in line.

Both eggs were green, though in very different ways. The first one was larger and more of a grayish green–as grayish as it could be while still shimmering. The other was more blue-green, or maybe green shot through with blue. Or was it blue shot through with green?

She stepped forward and laid her hand on the grayish egg. Nothing happened. She not not expected it to. She moved on to the blue-green egg, hesitating for a moment to admire its beauty. Then she placed her hand on it, and warmth rushed up her arm. She shivered and placed her other hand on the egg as well. It shuddered and then cracked, revealing a baby dragon curled like a cat.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Travel**

Two weeks later, Vianna, Kata, and a young, surly dwarf named Terren floated down the Az Ragni in an elf-made boat.

The last weeks had been strange for all three of them. After the last egg hatched for the surly and unenthusiastic Terren, the three of them travelled into Du Weldenvarden to meet Queen Arya and her dragon, Fírnen.

Vianna was impressed by the elves. They all had the freedom to do what they wished, without reference to gender or income or abilities. As a Rider, she knew that someday she might have that freedom as well.

She had named her dragon Opalla. Opalla could not yet speak, but Kata's dragon, Rubian, the first of the three to hatch, spoke to the five others often. Kata and Terren were surprised at the mind contact with their dragons, but Vianna was already used to it. She suspected that there might be many things about magic and minds that she would have to learn again.

After the elven court, they were taken briefly to the humans' capital of Ilirea and presented to Queen Nasuada.

Her Majesty was an imposing woman of about thirty with dark skin and hair. She had three children, but no one knew the identity of the father. The queen would never tell anyone his identity, in case it gave him power over her and her heirs.

While at the court, the three also saw their second full-fledged dragon and Rider pair: Murtagh and Thorn. Vianna knew very little about them, save that they had stayed in the mountains for almost three years after the queen took power, but that they were now often at her court. Vianna was interested in them, but not as interested as she was in the young woman with raven-black hair and purple eyes who roamed the halls of the palace. She had heard many more stories about this girl from her parents, who had been in the Varden when Elva was cursed.

_She's the same age as me_, Vianna thought, _and she's... well, more lack of a better description, a respected, independent–if lonely–person._

They did not stay long in Ilirea. They had to travel many leagues to reach the new home of the Riders, and their elf guides were impatient to be on their way.

**Sorry this was short. School just started. Yes, Angela will show up soon, and Eragon and Saphira will be in the next chapter. The dragons and the dwarf will also start to be actual characters. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: Doru Deloi**

**Sorry it took so long to update. I'll try to get better. I do not own the phrase "convoluted plan" or any of the characters or words you recognize.**

Winter was beginning to set in when Kata, Vianna, Terren, the three dragons, and the elves arrived at Doru Deloi, the new home of the Riders.

the buildings were made of a strange combination of stone and wood, and they were as beautiful as the ones in Du Weldenvarden. What was stunning about them, however, was the size. Every building could hold a dragon ten times the size of any with their group, and there were other dragons. And other Riders.

Terren and Moscar, his gray-green dragon, stood slightly apart from the group, not quite involved in the wide-eyed admiration displayed by the others.

"I didn't think we'd really get here," said Kata softly. "It's still like a dream."

_Well, where did she expect us to end up?_ Vianna thought tartly. _We _are_ Riders, so we're at the home of the Riders._

_Don't be so cynical_, chastised Opalla in her deep but musical voice. _Kata has less world experience than you do. At least in the ways of magic_.

Vianna sighed inwardly. It was nice to have someone who knew her as well as Opalla already did, but she was not quite used to the complete lack of privacy.

"It is amazing," she agreed aloud.

She turned her eyes to the other Riders and dragons who walked the streets of the still small, raw city. She glimpsed two other humans, both walking beside their dragons in a businesslike fashion. There were several elves and dwarves as well, but surprisingly, what she saw the most of was Urgals.

Vianna had never seen a female Urgal before. Now, in less than ten minutes, she saw three. They were somewhat shorter than the men, but they still had horns, and their skin was gray. They, like all of the Riders, had lightly pointed ears.

An elf walked up to their group, and even Vianna was shocked at the sight of him. He was entirely covered in blue-black fur and clad only in a loincloth. He resembled a cat, and he smelled... like raw temptation. Vianna focused her mind away from the intoxicating smell and nudged Kata, who blushed and did the same.

"I am Blödhgarm," said the elf. "I am the teacher of the advanced magic students. If you will follow me, I will lead you to Eragon-Elda."

They followed, Kata still looking like the lovestruck girl she seemed to be and Terren looking surlier than ever. The streets wound through the buildings in what seemed to be a conscious, artistic, but convoluted plan. Near the hill that sheltered the city, they came to a large building, structured like a cave with vaulted pillars around the opening. The three dragon-Rider pairs entered behind Blödhgarm, their elven escort behind them. Inside, several more elves walked around, reading, writing, or working magic. Vianna also saw one human, an older man with grey hair and a dramatic scar. A giant mirror was mounted on a stand near a wall, and there were many scrolls and swords lying about on tables. There was only one dragon present. She was the largest dragon at Doru Deloi, though Vianna thought Thorn had been about the same size. She was sapphire blue, beautiful, proud, and regal. Her Rider stood beside her, speaking to the human.

So this was Eragon Shadeslayer. He did look like elf, though no elf had brown hair and eyes or such an honestly interested look. He was handsome in the way that elves were, but as a human Vianna doubted she would find him overly attractive. He wore an elven-style tunic and a sapphire-blue sword.

Blödhgarm approached Eragon and touched his fingers to his mouth. "Atra esterní ono thelduin," he said.

Eragon turned. "Mor'ranr lífa hjarta onr," he replied. "Are these the new Riders and dragons?"

"Yes, Eragon-Elda."

"Thank you, Blödhgram." He turned to their small group. "What are all of your names?" he asked.

They glanced at each other awkwardly. Then Vianna stepped forward. "I am Vianna, daughter of Ingrid."

The others introduced themselves, and Eragon nodded at each in turn.

_I am pleased to meet you, younglings_, said the blue dragon. _I am Saphira Brightscales, daughter of Vervada. This is my Rider, Eragon Shadeslayer, son of Brom. We, and the elves–_

"–And Jeod, the human–"

_–Will be your teachers. You will learn–_

"–Magic, fighting, reading, writing, philosophy–"

_–And anything else we see fit to teach you_, finished Saphira.

Vianna smiled at their union. She hoped that she and Opalla would have that one day. She nodded with the others, but her mind wandered from the formalities to dreams of what training would be like. At the end of the discussion, they were shown to structures in the western part of town where they ate and bathed and slept, knowing that the morning held more meetings and their first lessons.

, said Opalla.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: Training and Koren**

The next morning, Vianna was woken before dawn by an Urgal stomping around outside of her and Opalla's cave. She groaned loudly and sat up, blinking and feeling the oil on her face and scalp. She grimaced and stumbled to the edge of the cave, looking out on the landscape and down on the city.

The city was beautiful, built from its colored stone and dark, twisting wood. She wished she had a whole day to explore it, but instead she met her companions at the foot of the mountain, and together the walked back into the city itself to meet with Eragon and Saphira.

"This morning we will be outlining your schedules for training. These will include times for-"

_Reading and writing, fighting, magic, and flying. You will work with a variety of tutors and meet with Eragon and myself-_

"Every third day as a group."

They were led out by an elegantly-dressed elf towards a training field, Eragon and Saphira following. The Dragons separated from the others to be tested on their flying abilities, and the humans and dwarf were subjected to several tests to assertion their skill in archery, fencing, and simple magic. Kata and Terren struggled with the last, tripping over simple phrases in the Ancient Language, but when Vianna achieved every task with ease, Eragon turned his attention to her personally.

"How long have you been able to use magic?" he asked.

"For years. My power is stronger now that I'm bonded to Opalla, but I can work most types of spells."

The others stared at her, and she blushed.

"In that case, you will be taught magic separately from the others. It's usually only the elves who come to us already knowing magic. I take it you can protect your mind as well?"

She nodded, thinking, _I wonder how old he really is, and how it feels for him to be in control of all of this. I don't envy him. _

She was tested for more than an hour, and when she finished, she and the others were taken to a quiet library, where a sullen dwarf of Dûrgrimst Ebardac tested the skill of each with letters. All three were proficient readers, but none had any knowledge whatsoever of Elven glyphs. Vianna knew that a long stretch of study was before her, and she sighed, but her excitement to begin outweighed any disadvantages she could think of.

Training began in earnest the next morning. The Dragons flew off together to learn about Dragonlore, and Kata and Vianna trudged down to the practice fields together. For more than an hour, they struggled with swords, and then they walked to a bathhouse to wash before separating for magic lessons.

Vianna wondered about the other girl. They had not confided much to each other, but she knew that Kata was a noble and that she praised the dwarf goddess Sindri for deliverance every evening. When life was settled down more, she would have to begin learning the secrets of her new companions.

Thoughts such as these were driven out of her head when she arrived at her magic tutor's home. Eluvia was an elf with knee-length black hair and sharply angled almond eyes the color of burnished copper. She wore a simple tunic with no shoes, and her house was unadorned save by flowers, growing inside and out. It was a place of peace and rest, and place that also contained three other young Riders.

Two of Vianna's new study partners were elves, one male and one female. The third was an Urgal ram who looked by far the oldest of the group. Their names were Koren, Soraia, and Rekai.

Soraia was an abstracted intellectual, the type who spent all of her time memorizing spells and researching their uses rather than practicing them. Rekai, the Urgal, was her grounding force, the one who made her stay on task as they created a fairth together under Eluvia's guidance. Koren was tasked with the job of testing Vianna's power and skill once again.

He set her to several tasks, and then he reached out and touched her mind.

She had never touched minds with an elf before, and it was strange and different, like listening to sad music on a late summer's evening. She made no attempt to reach deeply in: she knew she had no chance against his defenses. But neither, it seemed, had he against hers.

When they were finished, Eluvia released then, with orders to meet her in the grove the next morning. Vianna had begun to leave when Koren stopped her.

"Have you seen much of the city yet?" he asked.

"No, almost none."

"Then I'll show it to you."

She hesitated.

"Vianna, I'm sure you want to learn more about elves, and I want to learn more about humans, and so we can both be satisfied by walking together. All of the Dragons will be out for hours yet. I could give you a full tour."

She smiled. "Feel free."

They began to walk, and she asked, "How long have you been a Rider?"

"Nearly three years. I'm only twenty-one, so I hadn't been trained much in anything before I became a Rider. Rekai became a Rider when I did, and Soraia a year later. Are there really three of you this year? And how did you learn magic? And..."

"And I had no idea elves asked so many questions."

He shook his head. "Most of us don't. But I admit to wanting to learn more about you. There are very few people here, and I am not fond of many of the other elves. I need a friend."

"Then you shall have one."

**Please review! Extra virtual pie for anyone who does. This was a bit of a filler chapter that I wrote in a hurry, but there is more to come, especially about Vianna and Koren, as well as the mystery of Kata, the actual Rider training, the appearance of Angela, and the personalities of several Dragons (I am trying to copy Christopher Paolini's capitalization. I'm sorry if I get it wrong.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: A Walk

Vianna quickly became friendly with Koren, who knew about magic, elves, and the other Riders but was not so much older than she was that they could not share common experiences.

That first day, he showed her all of the secret parts of Doru Deloi, the beautiful gardens in the eastern part of the city, the fortress on the northern side where the unused swords were kept. She learned that he had grown up in the city of Nädindel, and that he had been the only elf child in the entire city for the whole of his childhood.

"Of course, by our standards, I'm still a child," he remarked.

Vianna smiled at that. "Yes, I suppose you are. But then, so would I be."

He smiled back. "No one would ever mistake you for a child," he said softly. "You're far too mature for that."

She laughed. "I hope that's a compliment."

"Of course it is. It might not be from many other elves, but it is from me."

They talked for most of the evening, and then the Dragons flew back into the city.

Opalla flew directly to Vianna, and they shared memories of the day as Opalla carefully looked Koren over.

_He might do for you,_ she commented.

_Opalla! I barely met him this morning. Am I not allowed to have male friends who are only friends?_

_You would be if you would stop blushing._

Vianna blushed harder. "Koren," she said, trying to sound as dignified and mature as he seemed to think she was, "May I introduce Opalla?"

"You certainly may." Koren nodded to Opalla, his right hand twisted over his sternum in the elves' gesture of respect.

Sorry for my long absence. Here's... something to go on until I write another, better chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: "Fun" with Swords

The next day, Vianna and Kata walked to one of the city's smaller sparring arenas for their first lesson in swordplay.

Now that she was living as a Rider, Kata had taken to wearing the long, soft tunics favored by Elves, though hers were tighter and lower-cut than the ones Vianna owned. Her black hair was piled atop her head, as perfectly as it could have been when she was still a noblewoman living in the Empire. On the way to the arena, she talked endlessly, telling Vianna about her own training.

"They keep making us move rocks with our feet and carry sand from one pile to another and it's just all so _useless_. I thought the Riders would do more worthwhile things!"

Vianna smiled. She remembered the days when she was first learning to use magic. She had been put to many meaningless tasks, too, but eventually she had found her power inside of herself. Kata would, too.

"And we have to memorize these lists of names, and it's just so _boring_. I want to do something _fun_."

"Well, maybe the fun parts are coming," Vianna suggested. "Maybe if you're lucky they'll start today."

Kata sighed, but she stopped complaining for the moment.

Whether fun was coming or not, hitting a partner with a stick was not part of it. Terren, the surly dwarf, had wielded a sword before, and so he sparred with more competent partners farther down the field. Kata and Vianna were instructed by a large, grey-skinned Urgal who was a swordsman (swordsUrgal?), not a Rider. He had no patience for Vianna's inability to hold her wooden "sword" correctly and even less for Kata's fear of her opponent.

The morning's first change came when their Urgal instructor was called away to help with something else and an older Rider came to help the two girls instead.

He was definitely human, with the slightly pointed ears of a non-elven Rider. This man was… dashing. Handsome. Rugged. Vianna hated men like that. True to form, it seemed Kata loved them, and they loved her, or at least this one did. His name was Josen, and he taught them less than nothing that morning. Vianna was glad when their Urgal instructor returned: even an impatient instructor was better than an unhelpful and rugged one.

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